Wellington Today Wellington Today 2017 en | Page 6

WELLINGTON TODAY 2017
WELLINGTON COLLEGE CHINA
FROM THE
MASTER
WELLINGTON
COLLEGE
THE SPIRIT OF
WELLINGTON
AND ITS UNIQUE
APPROACH TO
EDUCATION IS
APPARENT
May I start by saying how much I enjoyed my recent visit to
China, and how lucky I felt to have the opportunity to visit each
of our wonderful schools: Wellington College International
Tianjin, Wellington College International Shanghai and Wellington
College Bilingual Shanghai. I was also able to visit the site of our
new school in Hang Zhou, which although just a plot of land
when I was there, will no doubt soon have risen majestically
when I return next year. I was so proud of all the schools, and
it was a joy to see the way the pupils are flourishing under the
inspirational leadership of their teachers.
The visit reminded me of how closely linked we are as a family
of schools – and not just because of the obvious similarities in
the architectural magnificence of the buildings, even if at times
I did have to remind myself that I was in Shanghai rather than
Berkshire!
Although separated by thousands of miles and vastly different
contexts the spirit of Wellington and its unique approach to
education is apparent, whichever school you are in. We are
bound together by a shared ethos, by a shared commitment to
work tirelessly to ensure that each Wellington pupil acquires a
true Wellington identity.
It is an identity built on intellectual curiosity, on true
independence, on a generous and far-reaching inclusivity and
on the courage to be properly and unselfishly individual. It is in
short the capacity to be inspired to become the very best you
can be. In our Wellington UK Calendar I included a section on
the Wellington Identity, and I hope you won’t mind me sharing
it with you:
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– We hope that all our pupils will find the inspiration to choose
to be the very best that they can be, to make of themselves
something special, no matter what their talents are. Finding the
spark of inspiration that allows them to transcend themselves
lies at the heart of a Wellington education.
– Wellington seeks to inspire and challenge its pupils so that each
individual becomes both interested and interesting. We want
them to keep on asking important questions, and to be fired
with a genuine and passionate spirit of enquiry: in short to instil
in them the intellectual curiosity that will make them life-long
learners.
– Wellington believes that a proper education is all about a gentle
freeing of the spirit so that one day our boys and girls will be
uniquely themselves. We know we won’t always be there to tell
them what to do, but we can help them find their own answers,
which is what true independence is all about.
– Choice lies at the heart of each pupil’s time at Wellington. While
they all follow the same core curriculum, the choices that they
make, both in and beyond the classroom, ensure a custom-fit
education: all our pupils have the space and freedom to become
truly individual.
– Wellington celebrates diversity: with pupils from over 40
different countries, and an extensive service programme we
are proud of our truly global outlook. If our pupils do not leave
Wellington with a burning sense of their responsibility to make
the world a better place then we have failed them. Wellington
is nothing if it is not inclusive. And it is these qualities that are
present in the thousands of small interactions that happen all the
time in the Wellington schools – and not just in the classrooms,
but in the concert rooms, the sports pitches, the theatres and
the studios – that make them such special and sought after
educational places.
I am delighted that our schools, and in particular our students,
now have a shared platform for collaboration through Duke
box, the new student-run radio station, which was launched
towards the end of October. Dukebox can only be listened to
via an App, which may be easily downloaded, and will broadcast a
wide variety of programmes, from music to current affairs, from
world-wide Wellington events to interviews and features. As well
as providing state of the art media training, it will also do much
to bring the students in all the Wellington schools together. It is
the start of something really exciting, and I wish all the students
involved in the project the best of fortune.
When I visited Shanghai and Tianjin last spring it was just prior
to the UK’s referendum on its continued membership of the
European Union. The result of that vote, popularly known as
Brexit, may have caused some onlookers to feel the UK was
turning its back on the wider world, and to imagine that its
intellectual horizons were shrinking.
Nothing could be further from the truth, and our growing
Wellington family of schools demonstrates the importance we
place in fostering truly international relationships. Indeed, our
family gives al l our students – and their teachers – not only the
opportunity to experience different cultures and experiences but
also to share the very best in world-wide education.
The world is shrinking all the time, and it seems to me the
geographical barriers that seemed insurmountable in the last
century are no longer that relevant. Skype, email and now
Dukebox can connect us all instantly, but even more important
than these electronic links is the invisible, but oh so powerful,
bond that ties the Wellington family of schools together: it
is nothing less than our shared commitment to educational
excellence and the creation of an identity that transcends the
purely physical.
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